Farming in the Carolinas

Alpacas—the smaller, South American cousins of the llama—provide fleece for all kinds of knitted goods. The number of alpacas, and alpaca farms, has steadily grown since Americans began importing the animal for its fleece in the 1980s. North Carolina is part of this trend even though its climate is not ideal for alpacas.

Those are a few examples of how heavy rains in the Carolinas are decimating crops. Farmers are dealing with some of the wettest weather they've ever had, and all that rain is washing out a sizable chunk of the Southern economy.